More important than a game

First, he was dealing with the Texas A&M media in the interview room at Reed Arena, which he noted was far different from what he was used to at Commerce. Then he had to answer questions about his team, which had just been blitzed 78-46 by the 15th-ranked Aggies.

"We hope (the experience will help)," he said. "You get into an environment like this, and then we go to (Texas) Tech and that'll be their opener so we expect it'll be crazy and then we play a team called Kentucky."

Then he was asked what the last month has been like for him.

Von Rosenberg took a long time to answer, as tears welled up in his eyes and he searched for words that didn't want to come.

The last month for the A&M-Commerce coach was a long way from what a normal October is for a college basketball coach. Instead of concentrating on preparing the Lions for a tough non-conference schedule and the rigors of training camp, von Rosenberg was dealing with something far more important.

On the morning of Oct. 13, the parents of Sarah von Rosenberg, Jaret's wife and the mother of their three children, didn't respond to phone calls from her parents. Finally, the couple's 7-year-old son answered the phone and told his grandmother that his mom was “asleep on the floor” and wouldn't wake up.

Sarah had had a massive stroke. She was taken by helicopter to Dallas, where emergency surgery was performed. A day later, she suffered a second stroke, which left her fighting for her life. Remarkably, Sarah von Rosenberg fought back and her condition stabilized, but she faces the prospect of more surgeries and extensive rehabilitation to regain her motor skills.

"I thought you might ask about that," Jaret von Rosenberg finally said. "There's a lot going on at home. But my wife's doing better, and that's why I'm here."

Von Rosenberg said his wife has entered in-patient rehabilitation and has been able to talk and communicate.

"She might be watching right now, so, I love you," he said.

AggieYell.com asked von Rosenberg if coaching had been an escape or a burden as his wife remained hospitalized, and he described mixed emotions.

"I still get mad at our guys, and want them to do well," he said. "I think it's a good lesson for them that sometimes you've got stuff in your life, but you've gotta, once things are ok at home, you've gotta take care of your family, take care of your job.

Hopefully, it's a good life lesson."

Sarah von Rosenberg will likely need months of rehabilitation and medical support, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help defray costs. As of Tuesday afternoon, $125,000 had been raised, but that was only half of the goal of $250,000.

During his postgame comments, A&M coach Buzz WIlliams urged members of the press to share the von Rosenberg family's story and the GoFundMe information.

"I don't know what GoFundMe means and I'm paranoid about my name being on the internet," he said. "(But) today is the first day (Jaret von Rosenberg) has not seen his wife. This is my 1,678th day here and I've never asked you guys to do anything for me ... but if you can write a sentence of two about how we can help him, how we can help his family."

Wiliiams said that von Rosenberg had related that Sarah von Rosenberg can remain in the hospital for another 25 days (as of Monday), "but on day 26, she's got to go somewhere else."

"If something happened to my wife, I'm not coaching. I couldn't function," Williams said. "It's the giving time of the year, and I would just ask people ... I think anything would help."

Von Rosenberg said the outreach from fellow coaches was far beyond anything he could have expected

"The basketball community, Buzz, has been incredible," he said as the tears streamed down his cheeks. "We're in a tough business, but it's cool to see how people help out. Hopefully, we can pay it forward somehow."

To contribute to the von Rosenberg family's GoFundMe, click here.